GB Skimo's Innes shines at Pointes Blanches victory and battles to 13th at Belle Étoile

Header photo from Belle Étoile. Credit: Thibaut Blais

Victory at Pointes Blanches

Iain Innes kicked off his individual season in style at Pointes Blanches, taking the win on a course featuring around 1800m of ascent and descent in just under two hours.

“First Individual race of the season at Pointes Blanches and it was a special one for me. I pushed hard from the very start and raced my own race, I was leading going into the first real climb and wanted to see how long I could hold it. I basically sat at what felt like 105% capacity the whole way round the course, fully expecting to blow up, but it never really came. I was very happy to come away with the win.

Thanks to the organising committee, all the volunteers, spectators and other racers for making it such a fun morning in the mountains. While many skimo races are becoming less technical and wild, it was nice to do something that felt like real ski mountaineering.” says Iain.

It was a commanding performance from the GB racer, setting the tone for the rest of his February competitions.

Elsewhere, Carol Scrimgeour narrowly missed out on a medal in the Masters category, while Neil Palfrey also delivered a strong performance.

13th at Belle Étoile in world-class field

Later in the month, Iain teamed up with French racer Jules Mangin for the legendary Belle Étoile team race.

After two days of racing and more than 5000m of ascent through powder snow, steep couloirs and exposed ridgelines, the pair finished an impressive 13th place in a stacked field of 152, lining up against some of the best ski mountaineers in the world.

It was a gritty, high-mountain effort that underlined Iain’s versatility across both individual and team formats, and showcased the strength of British ski mountaineering on the international stage.

GB Skimo racer Iain Innes and French teammate Jules Mangin finish 13th at Belle Étoile.

Photos credit:  Adrien Colleur

GB Skimo racer Iain Innes and French teammate Jules Mangin finish 13th at Belle Étoile.

“First Individual race of the season at Pointes Blanches and it was a special one for me. Around 1800m of ascent and descent in just under two hours. I pushed hard from the very start and raced my own race, I was leading going into the first real climb and wanted to see how long I could hold it. I basically sat at what felt like 105% capacity the whole way round the course, fully expecting to blow up, but it never really came. I was very happy to come away with the win."

Thanks to the organising committee, all the volunteers, spectators and other racers for making it such a fun morning in the mountains. While many skimo races are becoming less technical and wild, it was nice to do something that felt like real ski mountaineering.” says Iain

Carol Scrimgeour just missed out on the medals for the Masters class whilst Neil Palfrey also put in a great performance.

GB Skimo racer Iain Innes and French teammate Jules Mangin finish 13th at Belle Étoile.

After two days of racing, and 5000m of ascent through powder, up couloirs and along ridges, Iain and Jules finished 13th behind some of the best racers in the world.

And if we can big this up and the field was 152 or something like that

Photos, credit Thibaut Blais